Cairo
back Change has come to the cradle of civilization. It's about time. Egypt was once the richest land in the world - the western world at least. The wealth of Egypt made Antony drool. It is no longer a rich land. Now it suffers. Pharaoh's treasure has been squandered. Alexandria was once the most sophisticated cultural and economic center from the Med basin to India. Now it threatens to turn back to the dark ages. Now Copts are murdered in Alexandria. Is that to be the face of Egypt? Will Egypt become a land of stonings? Egypt isn't a religion. Egypt is a culture. The oldest land on earth. Where man learned to farm and count the days till the next flood. Where man learned to make beer. And to measure, count and do geometry. And study the stars. And worship. And make laws. And bureaucrats. Don't forget the beer. The Greeks snatched Egypt for a bit and gave us Cleopatra. After the Hyksos, and Persians and those Greeks and then Romans and Arabs and Crusaders and Turks. Colonialists. The Brits, of course. The Russians then the Americans. Alexandria was founded by Alexander after he conquered the western Persian holdings. With Egypt in hand, he could turn to the Persian heartland with his back secure. Egypt has immense value. It is the land of the Pyramids, for godssake. The Suez Canal. The Nile. How can there possibly be hungry people in Egypt? That needs fixing. A military man came to power 60 years ago. Gamal Abdel Nasser. Anwar El Sadat was his vice president and heir. When Sadat got his start, the Russians were Egypt's sponsor, but he flipped in the early 80's and made peace with Israel. They killed him for that. Sadat was assassinated by the Ikwan, the Brotherhood. Hosni Mubarak was Sadat's vice president and succeeded him. Look at dynasties/succession in 2nd and 3rd century roman emperors or the chains of Mamluks in Egypt's own past for examples of such periods of governance. The US supported Sadat and then Mubarak because Egypt is an extremely important spot in the world. It is natural to want friends in such an important place. It was true then and it is true now. Other nations will want to be friends to Egypt, to the people of Egypt. Mubarak held the throne for 30 years but now his last days loom. His sons prefer London homelife and Swiss banks to the hurley burley of nation ruling. Mubarak was not the founder of a dynasty but rather was the most recent link in a transition from colonialism to whatever form of government the Egyptian people choose next for themselves.Will he become one of the founders of a new Egypt? It is worth noting. No special sauce arrived in the last weeks. The conditions for this event have been present to all necessary degrees since time began. The people of Egypt just needed to decide to make their world anew. It will be a very hard job but it is within their power. Right now. We hope they ask for help from Turkey and Iraq. And from the Saudi's. Maliki has solved many of the problems they face now. I hope people around the world will watch and learn from what Egypt does. Will Egypt spawn its own founders like Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin were to the US? Men and women who frame the home of their nation? We hope they will be as lucky as the US was. We wish them good fortune. We hope that they think of their children, and of our children too, as they decide their path. We hope they show that humans can be trusted to organize themselves freely into good neighbors and to become a prosperous people whose treasures increase daily. There are signs of hope. Help is waiting. From the US. From the rest of the world. But the people of Egypt must decide for themselves. The world is waiting. cairo The basic statistics of Egypt the Egypt page at CIA a timeline of Egyptian history from BBC the uv sun - green ra what direction What direction will the people of Egypt require of the government they make and choose? Now. Some issues and scenarios. chaos followed by new pharaoh? delicately choreographed takeover by the jihadis stable turkish model israeli treaty hamas iran the canal the turks who has interests The people of Egypt The Ikhwan ( the Brotherhood) - Reading Hasan al Bana and Sayed Qutb paints a different picture than the Brotherhood English language web page. What is said in English and what is said in Arabic are not the same. The Brotherhood has plans for Canada as an example The Arab people(s) The Iranian people The Ummah The rest of the bloody world who can help If we were to whisper in the President's ear we would mention Mohamed el Erian again and again. He is Egyptian. He is American. He has a global reputation for intelligence and integrity and is very bloody smart and effective. He could help the US help Egypt. Running Pimco is valuable. Helping found Egypt ... Call him. Get him in the game. He's a playmaker. On the other hand, el Baredei is a front man for Iranian interests. At best. Treat him as such. future Write the second section of your article here. Don't forget to add a category, to help people find the article. References *stratfor.com - private intel service - subscription based - good analysts *the Koran - understand egypt without the Koran ... right - sura 4 is meaty *the Hadith - the acts of Mohammed and his companions *Qutb's commentaries on the Quran - Qutb is one of the principal theoreticians of the Egyptian Brotherhood - executed by Nasser in 1965 or so. *The Ikhwan Oficial English Website - The Muslim Brotherhood in their own propaganda - one suspects that the English version may differ in important ways from the Arabic. *History of the Marmelukes - Military government is an old tradition in Egypt more as we come up with them